MuseumFarley Boat Works
Port Aransas · Nueces County · Dedicated 2011 · THC Atlas #4200001598
Texas history, up close and curated.
About this site
Farley Boat Works is a museum in Port Aransas, Nueces County, dedicated in 2011. It is one of 7 museums documented in Nueces County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 145 historic sites cataloged across the county.
The site sits at 27.8349, -97.0694 near Port Aransas. The nearest cataloged historic site is The Mercer Family on Mustang Island (historical marker), about 0.5 miles away. Others within a short drive include Mustang Island, Port Aransas Museum, and United States Coast Guard on Mustang Island.
This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #4200001598. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
History
Farley Boat Works in Port Aransas preserves the workshop of a family boatbuilding enterprise founded when brothers Barney and Fred Farley arrived on the Texas coast in 1910 to serve the town's booming tarpon-fishing trade. Fred, a master woodworker, established the shop by 1914, and the first Farley boat built expressly for Port Aransas tarpon fishing launched in 1915—open-cockpit craft 16 to 28 feet long built of cypress and later mahogany. The business closed in 1973 as fiberglass replaced wood, and the Port Aransas Preservation and Historical Association bought the structure in 2011, reopening the restored Farley Boat Works in February 2012 where boatbuilding continues.
Sources: portaransasmuseum.orgen.wikipedia.orgtexashighways.com
